He pondered the girl's response for a second....She was odd to him, what member of the night clan would present themselves this way in the face of a fight? A thought occurred to him."You confuse me, but I think this may be a sign. Every hunter knows when to strike and when to let your prey go, however in this case there is a third option." He smiled, something was brewing in his head."I will let you in on a secret little one, there is, as you may know a meeting occuring this very second to discuss what shall be done with the sun clans. This will fail one way or the other, there is no escaping that. The sun clans are aware of this, yet the ancients believe in the false idol of peace. Understand there is nothing I would love more than to go to war with the sun, and it will happen. Unfortunately there is only one of me, thus I can't be over the entire battlefield at once. This is where you come in. Our front lines need strength, We need the finest that the night can offer, we need to eliminate the sun by the end of the war no matter what. With your help we can make this happen."

He held out his hand and channeled his energy. A katana made of ice formed in front of the girl sticking half way into the ground."You say you will be the first to die in battle? Words such as those should be considered a form of blasphemy, the battle field is a place of pure joy, my pride as a knight of Lunara will not allow this. wield the blade as though your life depended on it and I will make you an element that will bring fear to the sun." He readied his sword and took a stance and waited patiently for her next move. Malachi could tell there was something different about this one, some form of unknown potential, all he needed to do was find a way to unleash the strength hidden within.

....Shashi stood on a branch in the tallest tree of the forest (which was dead center of the forest mind you...funny how those things happen) meditating quietly. He had heard that Exile was leaving to meet with the Ancient of Lunara which meant that the typical training of the day would be cancelled. Shashi determined to spend the day meditating and training rather than follow the herds of people to the meeting. A true instrument of his clan did not need to understand the politics of the matter, as long as he could carry out his duties when the time came. Besides, he would find out what was determined at the meeting soon enough. There are no secrets which the forest does not hear.

....An hour into his meditation, he felt a familiar reverberation flow through the roots of his tree into the branch he stood upon. He cracked a small smile, gently welcoming his recurring visitor. He always appreciated that girl's dedication to her craft despite her seemingly low talent level. Training while the rest of the clan took the day off was admirable. He often felt her presence in the forest and watched her train from afar, her constant struggle reminding him of the relentless vigor he trained with in his youth. He was the head teacher of the warriors in Sinoct, but these seasons he rarely intervened personally in the teaching of the younglings, perfering to mearly observe and only hand out advice when he felt the other teachers were unable to see what he saw. He tried to teach the teachers as well through his example. The wisdom he gave was often abstract on purpose. He must train their minds as well as their bodies if they were going to survive the impending trials.

....Today Shashi decided that he would make his presence known to his pupil. After all, such dedication should be reinforced and there are few who would turn down a private lesson from the so-called "Master of Sands". He had dropped subtle hints to his presence in the past, blooming flowers here or there around her feet; slightly altering the branches to give her shade in her rest. However, he wasn't surprised that she hadn't noticed his presence as of yet, it took him a full 8 seasons of daily training to become one with the forest and many more years into his knighthood before he perfected his spatial awareness and detection capabilities.

....Speaking of which, as he made his way through the trees towards his student, he was made aware of another presence entering the forest. One with which he was mostly unfamiliar. He quickened his pace, leaping from tree to tree as the uncertainty made him restless. He knew he'd never reach Aria before the unknown presence did, but hopefully he would arrive before any potential danger.

....Approaching the clearing he heard a hysterical, almost maniacal laugh echoing through the forest. Slipping into a tree just on the edge of earshot he looked out into the clearing and spotted his mark. It took little time to discern the unique attire of one of the most famous knights of Lunara. Wanting to assess the situation further, he listened in and heard his young pupil's plea for mercy. He felt pangs of both disappointment and anger vibrate through his frame. Perhaps Aria needed more help than he thought. He knew the girl lacked confidence, but was unaware of the depth it had reached. Either way the current situation was much more troublesome and took priority in his mind. "Why would Redcrow dawn his battle raiment in such a situation. Surely, the assassin hadn't gone rogue."

.....Moving closer as stealthily as he could, Shashi repositioned himself within range to defend Aria if need be, but for now he would listen and await Redcrow's next move.

Aria looked at the Ice Sword that appeared before her. For a moment, she was confused. Did this knight mean to train her? Most simply ignored her incompetence to work on those more skilled. She was happy for the offer, but of course still hesitant about the situation.

Looking up from the sword to the Knight she saw that he was sincere about his offer. "A-Alright." Aria said as she stretched out her hand and grasped to hilt of the sword. The sword was cold and was already making her hands numb. The girl dropped the sword and looked up at the Knight. Given the fact that he made the katana, he knew this would happen. "I guess this is part of the training then." She said to herself as she reached down and picked the blade up again.

She took an awkward stance and held up the sword with both her hands. The page didn't know much of sword play but she would try to do as instructed. "So, um... what now?" The question could make anyone fall over from shock. The lack of knowledge this girl had was, unthinkable. Though it's more naivety than lack of knowledge. Though she had a sincere and curious expression on her face.

The grave welcomes all. Let me show you the way.
company: Aria and shashi in the distance
thoughts: She's got an audience, I hope she knows how to put on a good show.

❖◈❖◈❖◈❖◈❖◈❖◈❖◈❖

XLunaraKnight

Malachi smiled, this girl lacked confidence but overflowed with ambition, but didn't question the freezing ice, she had potential and no one would consider her a threat. This girl would make the perfect pupil. Watching her attempt at a stance was almost baffling to one who had known the blade his entire life. This attitude was new to him, the stance was unpolished, there was no intent to kill from her eyes, hands, or blade, yet there was a will to become stronger...

He lowered his stance"perhaps sparring might not be good just yet, I wouldn't want you dying too soon." He held out his hand as statues of ice formed from the ground."I want you to try something for me...." he pointed his sword at the statues."before I can meet your blade I must know your capability, strike these statues down then come at me with your full strength, if you want to prove your worth you won't hold back."

....Shashi looked on in curiosity at the situation unfolding before him. He was surprised that Redcrow had chosen to actually train the girl, and he was ashamed that Redcrow had seen something in her that members of her own clan chose to ignore. Even I'm guilty Despite his plan to help her train today, Shashi had thought that Aria must come to her breakthrough moment on her own but now he was questioning that idea. Perhaps he should have taken her aside sooner. He would need to re-evaluate how the clan handled pages on a case by case basis.

....Coming out of his thoughts, Shashi watched her take the blade with little hesitation and saw her take a muddled fighting stance. What have the leaders been teaching her? Shashi questioned in his mind. He watched as Redcrow summoned ice statues and instructed Aria. He felt a small sense of pride at her determination. Well then Aria, show this man you aren't the disappointment everyone else thinks you are

Death... Death is a mercy some will never know.
Where at: Heading towards the meeting place with Lunara ancient.
With: No one
Occ: Reason for putting X years is because I don't know exactly when the last war or large battle was. So I don't know how long the cold war has been going on ether.

Exile couldn't contain the sigh any longer as he headed towards his meeting with his fellow ancient which he secretly dreaded since meetings were always a slow form of torture for the immortal. Yes Exile was immortal in he would never age past what he already was in body but that did not mean he was unkillable. No he could be slain just like any other being.
As Exile traveled towards the meeting place he couldn't help him self but think about his fellow Ancient the one who lead the Lunara. He was one of the few leaders that had come from the Lunara clan that he hadn't felt the desire to render into a million pieces. Most of the previous ancients just like with his clan had been war mongers that demanded children be taught to hate anything from the light. That hate had caused so much destruction but of the last X years things had been silent. Not the silence that accompanies death or peace. No this was the silence that came before a rage storm that would reshape everything. Though as Exile thought over things his speed of travel had started to increase till he was in a full blown sprint for most but didn't even looked strain to keep the speed up so he would reach where he was going in the next hour or so

Kin snorted softy at the kick to the table. Wonderfully mature her equal was. "Yes, why're we wasting our time here? Our time could be far better spent planning our next advance, or even scouting." Kin snapped, the only bite to her voice coming from how quickly she spit out the words. Her tone itself was calm, collected. Sure, she was annoyed, but taking it out on the other Ancient, with that little hussy of a Twilight member around, would be useless. Though she could think of a few pages who had accompanied her and her knight that had outlived their usefulness. Though the little brats were getting smarter now, hiding from her when she was in one of her moods. Kin supposed that was likely a good thing. Wiser pages made stronger knights. But it certainly did take all the fun out of it.

"So, for a more formal answer, yes, there were other things I wished to do today, and the only thing I'd like to address is the sudden focus on useless diplomacy over a well-honed, well-placed blade. That about cover it?" Kin added before the man could respond to her first snap. She shifted in her seat in annoyance, finding it hard to sit still in this place. Had it been her home, perhaps that would have been another story. It was far from rude to pace within the confines of her own war rooms, but here, she didn't trust the girl to the side not to get all uppity if Kin took to her feet. As if she couldn't do just as much damage sitting down. But, annoying the mediator would just prolong things, which was the last thing Kin wanted.

Saya jumped up in her seat when she heard the bang from Gin's kick. She slumped in her chair with her arms crossed as the two other ancients discussed things unrelated to the war. This wasn't fooling her since she knew how both these two felt about the war. Though if they weren't going to talk about it she couldn't intervene.

A small discussion carried on when Saya had an uneasy feeling. It was like an intuition. There was some kind of dispute off somewhere and Saya had to put a stop to it. She quickly got up. "I'll be taking my leave. Please excuse me." With that she left and set off to find the dispute.

The sudden departure of Saya was just that, sudden. This event though, had no effect on Gin and with the girl gone, Kin and him could discuss what they wished to. "Okay, Kin, I know how much you want to destroy the Night clan, but do you possibly have a more subtle way? Then again I'm sure anyway will result in a battle and whatever follows that." Gin stated quickly forgetting the girl who left. A small thought came to his mind as he quickly glanced around the room and spotted a suit of armor. 'I wonder, is Kaze actually following my orders like a good knight should or is he off flirting somewhere?' Knowing his knight, Gin knew that he would most likely have to punish Kaze. Gin let out a quiet sigh as he returned to the conversation being held.

~The slave came in with a large bottle and the requested goblet. He placed the goblet on the table and uncorked the bottle of mead. Ale nodded at him, gesturing that it was okay to put the bottle down and leave without filling the goblet. The slave bowed and exited. Ale took the bottle of mead, and instead of pouring himself a drink, took a swig straight out of the bottle and smiled. It was delicious, nothing like what he had grown up on. The taste reminded Ale of a night in the past, where he still had his first good friend.

~It was the night before Ale's first large battle, and they were at an expensive pub. His friend was trying to convince him to woo the ladies, and take them into the forest for a night of fun. But Ale was still innocent and shy, and the thought of talking to the cute girls made him feel like there was a torch inside him. But surely enough, after enough drinks, he got up and talked to the girls. That night while they were in the forest, a pre-preemptive raid had been sent out against the Lunara forces. They were alone in the forest drunk, and the raiders killed both the girls and Ale's best friend. Ale barely claimed victory, but had scars to remind him of the event both on his body, and on his soul.

~Shaking himself free from the cage of memories, Ale peered out a window. The amount of light outside and the positions of the shadows told him the meeting was drawing ever nearer. Ale called out for the slave, and had him bring an extra bottle for the guest. The slave glanced at the goblet, noticing it was totally dry, but said nothing, only obeying his orders. Ale took another swig and awaited his friend.

"Ine...Ine~~~" Kaze said as he poked Inecer's shoulder. "Fine I'll just go find another toy..." Kaze then kicked Inecer's bow out from under him and chuckled softly as he watched the limp form fall to the ground. He walked up the the stammering guard and gave him a big kiss on the lips.

"Get the hell out of the window you damn aveophile!" Kaze exclaimed as he flicked a wind kunai at the bird in the window. The kunai missed, of course. "Dammit!" Kaze took off immediately, "Frack...Frack...Frack! I'm done, he'll ******** screw me, literally." He got back to the altitude he was supposed to be flying at and started circling the hall. "Really, Ine. This is your damn fault!" he grumbled. He waited for Gin to call him down in utter resignation.

Death... Death is a mercy some will never know.
Location: Inside the League of doom err guild meeting hall.
Company: Ale
Occ: I had to say it...

Exile let a small snicker escape his lips before he said softly. "Ya shouldn't drank so much youngster you don't have a immortal liver like I do." Exile always teased Ale about his drinking habits or more so on his name. Exile didn't really take notice of the startled servant from his sudden appearing in the room through one of the open windows. Yes Exile had a habit of entering through windows or makeshift doors since he hated using the actual door.
Exile for the life of him couldn't get the growing smile to go away even though it looked so very vicious and cruel on his face thanks to his lips drawing back into a snarling grin that showed each one of his teeth. That was one of the few things Exile hated about this body. He could never show a different smile besides the one of a vicious beast even when he had no ill intent as he said softly."So my friend you have called a meeting that I can only assume deals with the light and we are missing the ever present Twilight that always appears at a meeting like this so shall we speck quickly about our topic?" Exile wasn't one to mix words when it came to topics such as war.

Aria listened closely to Malachi's words. She tightened her grip on the katana and advanced towards one of the statues of ice. The Page swung the ice blade with most of her strength and hit the ice statue. When Aria looked at the statue, there was barely a crack made in it. 'What? Am I really that week?' She thought looking a bit surprised. She wasn't expecting much but there was so little damage that it really was a surprise.

Aria gripped the sword tighter only to realize that her hands couldn't feel the hilt. They were so numb that it was making it more difficult to judge her strength. Taking that into consideration, she swung once again with more ferocity. With repeated swings, the first statue finally broke into many peaces. Aria quickly moved to the others which took about the same amount of time as the first.

By the time Aria was actually able to cross blades with Malachi, her strength was almost gone. The katana had been dropped to her side with crumbled ice statues scattered hear and there. The young Page panted heavily as she rested with her hands and knees on the ground. Even if her life depended on it, she couldn't continue with an attack on the Knight.

The grave welcomes all. Let me show you the way.
company:Aria
thoughts:Interesting

❖◈❖◈❖◈❖◈❖◈❖◈❖◈❖

XLunaraKnight

Malachi smiled as he saw the frozen blade gleam through the air, chipping and cracking the ice, as the girl hacked away at her unwavering targets. Her willpower pleased him, The average page would not handle the cold or numbing very well. Then to add to the pain and discomfort the toll each strike took on the wielder's hands was significant.After all of that, this one had managed to strike down three statues despite the pain and fatigue inflicted upon her.

He let out a sigh, "This one will prove more entertaining than I anticipated" he thought.
Malachi pointed his sword at her slightly piercing her shoulder just enough to allow one drop of blood to fall."You would have died once now, that is one life you owe me, tell me, what comes to mind when one runs out of physical strength? surely you must have come here to practice something."He took a step back and allowed her some room, anticipating her response.

Both soldiers looked to the still unmoving form of Inecer. What they were surprised about was the sudden burst of wind that came flowing out of the fading form. A simple element double had been standing still all this time while the real knight kept himself concealed in a different spot outside the counsel room.

" My dear spirits, " Chanting lightly flowed through the wind that Kaze rode with his feathered wings. " Do thy biding and ground the ironically flying insect. " From a spot in Solmar, a wave of fierce gusts shot at Kaze with no remorse for striking at the man's weak points. His wings. Messing with a air element user was one thing, but when they freely strike them because their small incompetent minds can't understand that they are being ignored for a reason, then the line will be drawn in a deep red line of blood.

In the swirling form of arrows, the gusts struck the man in the gut and once in the left wing, ruffling the feathers so their performance would only allow a quick descent back to kingdom. Inecer stepped out from behind the counsel's building. The bird neatly sat on the armored shoulder of this knight, almost flaunting its imperfection of being that deceitful to a degree of complete succession. " Good work Nakin. " Inecer's eye slits still had one glowing blue eye, meaning that he didn't have to remain frozen to access the bird's field of vision anymore. A practice that had been well over thirty years in the making.